Monday, 30 August 2010

I have never been much of a make-up wearer. I love it, but it never seems to work for me. That is until I discovered the Chanel blush 'Fresque'. Honestly, it is the best, most natural looking blush ever. It gives you a slight glow without being overpowering or unnatural.

This is a screencap I took from a DVD that came with Vogue Paris a while back. It is taken from a scene where Peter Philips is teaching the other make-up artists the look for a Chanel Couture show, and he uses Fresque.

Saturday, 28 August 2010

I have just come back from a few days in Paris, unfortunately I couldn't enjoy it as I normally do but I still managed to get a few photos and some style inspiration. From people watching I have come to a few conclusions about what is chic in Paris at the moment. Firstly, I saw many people wearing their hair in a beautiful chignon, Im going to get to work on perfecting this! Everyone was wearing chic blazers and I have also decided I need a Balenciaga city bag in my life. I saw the Vanessa Bruno bag and I wasn't madly in love so I will give it a miss and save up instead. I also really need the Isabel Marant Lacow booties, but alas I couldn't afford them at the time, but I will be back!

Sunday, 22 August 2010

I have been trying to come up with the ultimate list of everything my wardrobe needs. Now it is complete, I am going to see how faithfully I can stick to it! The items are pretty basic, so I hope that when I finish (ha) I can supplement it with more interesting pieces.

Tops

- White short and long sleeve tees [American Vintage]

- White blouses

- Stripies

- Cashmere crew neck sweaters

- Fitted cardigans

Dresses

- Black sweater dress (x) [COS]

- Black long sleeve tee dress [T by Alexander Wang]

- Going out dress

Bottoms

- Brown leather skirt (x) [Zara]

- Black mini skirt [Joseph]

- Black skinny trousers (x) [Gap]

- Mid blue skinny jeans

- Denim shorts

- Black shorts

Outerwear

- Black wool coat [Sonia by Sonia Rykiel or DKNY]

- Leather jacket or an asymmetrical jacket]

- Trench coat

- Blazer - either navy wool or a lighter grey/tweed

Accessories

- Wolford tights

- Cashmere scarves

- Cashmere gloves

- Leather bag [Vanessa Bruno]

- Black Ferragamo flats (x)

- Suede/leather booties [Isabel Marant and Les Petites Parisiennes]

Have I missed anything crucial off? I'm thinking I will start possibly with the boots, the white t-shirts (I only own one long sleeve tee!!) and other essentials like the tights and jeans. I'll let you know if having a list like this works.

Sunday, 15 August 2010

I know that right now minimalism is the 'hot topic', but you will have to believe when I say that it is something I have been interested in long before it appeared in the September issue of every magazine. I am naturally drawn to uncomplicated clothes, and I lack the ability to layer in an appealing way. I think it is important to make distinctions when it comes to minimalism in fashion. It can either mean:

- A minimal wardrobe, i.e. owning a very small number of pieces.

- Minimal clothes i.e. each piece is classic/simple/maybe even stark.

Personally I want to combine these ideas. However it was pointed out in a discussion on tfs that it is very hard to achieve minimalism if you own poor quality pieces. I certainly agree with this (to an extent). I think the look is better with well fitted, tailored pieces as perfected by Jil Sander, than with h&m, but I believe it is possible to achieve a balance. The key items like blazers, bags and shoes should be the best quality possible as these are the pieces with the most impact.

When I saw these two images they immediately stuck in my head as perfect illustrations of the philosophy - simple, but in no way boring. Diane has added interest with shoes, whilst Barbara has used texture. Of course the dress is effectively the same shape etc, but they manage to look different.

unknown/jak&jil

So, what I want to achieve is a wardrobe with as few pieces as possible. Each piece should be loved and used equally, and it should be possible to match everything. I want to start with a Crombie coat (black), a long sleeve black tee dress, white t-shirts, a blazer and a black mini skirt. Has anyone else seen the Joseph FW collection and wished they owned the whole lot? I think a few pieces from there will help me on my way to minimalism.

I'll talk more about the minimal wardrobe in my next piece. I've made a list of all the things my wardrobe should have, and I'm going to try to only buy things on this list.

Monday, 9 August 2010

Saturday, 7 August 2010

I always enjoy seeing the contents of other peoples bags so I thought I would show you all what is in mine. My bag is a Marc by Marc Jacobs baby Groovee.

Ok, on the top row we have a rather old London A-Z, a blue and white polka dot pouch that holds my phone and travelcards etc. On top of that is an ancient oat bar thing and tic tacs. Biro and then the flowery pouch has things like hand cream, tissues etc.

I really feel the need to upgrade my bag...I just don't feel that its really 'me'. To get a good deal on it I had to get it without seeing it, which is rarely a good idea. Its useful and I love having a long strap, but its quite small and when using the long strap the ends of the bag kind of curl up. I saw on the Vanessa Bruno site that a store is opening in London in September (so exciting!) so I think I want to get this bag (Lune), it's bigger and should hold it's shape better. There is also a version with a long strap. I think I want it in a stone colour which is a nice neutral. I was also sort of thinking a PS1....but - expensive! Feel free to give your opinions/suggestions :)

Thursday, 5 August 2010

Tuesday, 3 August 2010

I went to the Grace Kelly exhibition at the V&A the other day. There were some beautiful dresses, and a stunning brown Hermes Kelly from the 70s, but really there wasn't too much to see. So unless you are a huge Grace fan, I would save your money and see the permanent fashion exhibition for free. This includes iconic looks throughout history, unfortunately for the 2000s it is a Juicy Couture velour tracksuit. How did we go from a classic Chanel suit to that!

One thing from the exhibit that did stick in my mind was a quote from WWD, which said that Grace was known for her 'conspicuous good taste'. I really like this phrase and it is something I aspire to. As much as I love designer clothes, I never want to advertise this fact by what I'm wearing. I think you can wear Chanel, Fendi, Prada etc (not that I own any!), but in an understated way. I want to look luxe but you don't need huge logos to achieve that.

NB: I'm wondering if there is anything you would like to see more of on this blog. Maybe more streetstyle shots (even if just taken with my macbook), more polyvore, or something? Thanks!